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Human Reproduction Update Advance Access published online on July 13, 2006
Human Reproduction Update, doi:10.1093/humupd/dml035
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received March 31, 2006
Revised May 26, 2006
Accepted June 13, 2006

Article

Function of aquaporins in female and male reproductive systems

He-Feng Huang 1 *, Rong-Huan He 1, Chao-Chao Sun 1, Yu Zhang 1, Qing-Xia Meng 1, and Ying-Ying Ma 1

1 Department of Reproductive Endocrinology, Women’s Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
He-Feng Huang, E-mail: huanghefg{at}hotmail.com


  Abstract

The flow of water and some other small molecules across cell membranes is important in many of the processes underlying reproduction. The fluid movement is strongly associated with the presence of aquaporins (AQPs) in the female and male reproductive systems. It has been suggested that AQPs mediate water movement into the antral follicle and play important roles in follicle development. AQPs are known to be involved in the early stage of spermatogenesis, in the secretion of tubule liquid and in the concentration and storage of spermatozoa. Fluid reabsorption in some regions of the male reproductive tract is under steroid hormone control and could be mediated by various AQPs. Also AQPs take part in the processes of fertilization, blastocyst formation (as the pathway for transtrophoec-todermal water movement during cavitation) and implantation. Alterations in the expression and function or regulation of AQPs have already been demonstrated in disorders of the male reproductive system, such as abnormal sperm motility, the abnormal epididymis and infertility seen in cystic fibrosis, and varicocele. This article extensively reviews the distribution of AQPs in mammalian reproductive tissues and discusses their possible physiological and patho-physiological roles.

Keywords: aquaporins/endocrinology/female tract/male tract/reproduction.
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